NBA Fines Heat's Riley $50G for Criticism

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, December 17, 2002

Miami Heat coach Pat Riley was fined $50,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for saying game officials are being unfair to his team because of a "dislike of me over the years."

Riley made the comments after a 97-92 loss to the New York Knicks last week.

"We understand what the rules are," Riley said before Wednesday night's game in Boston. "If you exercise freedom of speech and they don't like it, they come down hard on you."

He was unhappy with calls made against his team and the disparity in free-throw attempts. The Knicks were 30-for-37 from the line, while the Heat were 13-of-16.

In an emotional postgame news conference, Riley claimed referee Steve Javie made a disparaging remark during a game between Miami and Cleveland in November 2001.

"It all started, I think, last year," Riley said on Friday. Javie "came to my face after we were having a discussion and said, 'It's giving us absolute delight to watch you and your team die.' I think it's absolutely spread throughout the league."

Riley said Wednesday his only complaint was with the officials' inconsistency.

"I think the league office knows that I'm not one to call and complain," he said. "I'm going to continue to monitor it and deal with the consistency issue."